Tarwhine

Rhabdosargus sarba

Other names: Silver bream, bream.

Family: Sparidae (breams).

Description:

Available wild-caught, it is a coastal-dwelling marine fish, with smaller fish found in estuaries and larger fish in near-shore waters, off beaches and around offshore reefs to depths of about 35m along the eastern coast from Victoria to far north Queensland and along the western coast from southern to central WA. It is caught mainly by handlines, haul nets, traps and gillnets and is also a bycatch of inshore trawling. It is often caught with Yellowfin Bream, from which it can be distinguished by the yellow lines along Tarwhine’s rows of scales.

Season: Available year round.

Size and Weight: Typically 200-500g and 20-30cm, but can grow to 2kg and 50cm.

Price: Medium priced.

Relations:

Black Bream, Frypan Bream, Pikey Bream, Yellowfin Bream and Snapper (Pagrus auratus, not Goldband Snapper, which is a member of the Tropical Snapper family).

To Buy:

Sold mainly whole (gilled and gutted) and occasionally in fillet form (usually skinned). In whole fish look for lustrous skin, firm flesh, and a pleasant, fresh sea smell. In fillets, look for pale pinkish, firm, lustrous, moist flesh with some dark veins and without any brown markings or oozing water and with a pleasant fresh sea smell.

To Store:

Make sure whole fish is scaled, gutted and cleaned thoroughly as soon as possible (completely remove the lining of the abdominal cavity and the white fat along the abdominal wall). Wrap whole fish and fillets in plastic wrap or place in an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze whole fish for up to 6 months, and fillets for up to 3 months, below -18ºC.

To Cook:

Average yield is 35%. Has a mild, sweet flavour, low oiliness and moist, medium-textured flesh. Some fish can have a slightly ‘weedy’ taste due to their estuarine and coastal habitat.

Cooking Methods:

Steam, poach, pan-fry, bake, grill, barbecue. A good plate-sized fish cooked whole, flesh also works well in mousseline.